Carmen Yulín Cruz on Thursday slammed President Trump after he tweeted about Puerto Rico crisis.
The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, has lashed out at President Trump after he tweeted that federal agencies would not be able to assist the hurricane-ravaged island “forever.”
“@POTUS It is not that you do not get it; you are incapable of fulfilling the moral imperative to help the people of [Puerto Rico]. Shame on you!" Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz tweeted Thursday.
“@POTUS your comments about Puerto Rico are unbecoming of a Commander in Chief they seem more to come from a ‘Hater in Chief,'" she also wrote.
Her remarks came just hours after Trump issued a series of tweets seeming to blame the U.S. territory for its current dire situation; in one message, the president said, “...Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes.”
He then added, “We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in [Puerto Rico] forever!”
U.S. politicians joined Cruz in calling out the president including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who reportedly said his position was “heartbreaking and it lacks knowledge.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan also noted, “...there’s a humanitarian crisis that needs to be attended to and this is an area where the federal government has a responsibility, and we’re acting on it.”
Amid the backlash, White House chief of staff John Kelly was asked about Trump’s tweets during a press briefing Thursday.
“There will be a period in which -- we hope sooner rather than later -- to where the U.S. military and FEMA, generally speaking, can withdraw because then the government and the people of Puerto Rico are recovering sufficiently to start the process of rebuilding,” Kelly said.
But he also told reporters, “...our country will stand with those American citizens in Puerto Rico until the job is done.”